Dallas, TX

Crunching Cowboys stats: Tuning up for the playoffs

Published

1 year ago

January 8, 2024

Crunching Cowboys stats: Tuning up for the playoffs

No one expected the Washington Commanders to be much of a challenge for the Dallas Cowboys, and they weren’t. In what was Ron Rivera’s last game as head coach, the Cowboys clearly outclassed the Commanders. In the process, they sealed the NFC East title and the valuable number two seed. It was still a game where it was hard to be truly impressed by a Dallas victory, no matter how lopsided.

But the Cowboys certainly tried. More importantly, this looked like a team primed and ready to defend their home field in the playoffs, and if they defeat the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round, they will get to play at least two in the stadium where they have not been defeated since September of 2022. While you have to take the lack of success Washington has had this year into account, the numbers offer a lot of hope for this not being another disappointing postseason for Dallas.

Zero sacks for Dak Prescott

Why is this the first one brought up? Because the Cowboys had to play the game without Tyler Smith or Zack Martin. With T.J. Bass and Brock Hoffman filling in, they provided very good protection for Prescott. When there was pressure on him, he simply activated escape, evade, and attack mode, like he did on the second touchdown catch by CeeDee Lamb. When Prescott is given some time and feels comfortable, he is as dangerously effective as any quarterback in the NFL.

An MVP stat line

Let’s look at just how effective the QB was.

31 completions on 36 attempts (86.1%), 279 yards, four touchdowns, and one tipped ball interception. That will more than get the job done. It is also worth noting how he passed. It was a windy day, so he took few deep shots, instead completing short passes, a few of which had big yards after the catch or a penalty to move down the field. It was a lot of sustained drives, converting six of ten third downs and never calling on Bryan Anger to punt the ball once, even after Cooper Rush came in late to clean things up.

As he has done so much this season, Prescott spread the ball around, targeting eight different receivers and hitting seven of them. (Rush would hit Peyton Hendershot for 24 yards in the fourth quarter to add one more name to the list of pass catchers. Hendershot also threw in a hurdle for good measure.) It was a controlled, dominating performance. He may not wind up as the league MVP, for reasons that go beyond his play, but he clearly deserves to be in that conversation. The team will go as far as he can take them, and that looks like it could be far, indeed.

CeeDee’s star continues to ascend

Thirteen catches, 98 yards, and two touchdowns. Just another day at the office for Lamb, who averaged over 100 yards per game for the season. It is hard to argue against him being on a level with only one other player, the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill, this year. And thanks to the play of Brandin Cooks, Jake Ferguson, and others, if teams try and take Lamb away, Prescott will just go somewhere else. It’s a matter of picking their poison.

The running game shows up

This is a bit of a callback to the offensive line’s performance, since they are so crucial to this. The running game was solid in this game, amassing 131 yards and a touchdown. Tony Pollard was the big weapon in a way we have seldom seen in 2023. His 70 yards put him over 1,000 for the season, and he had the score after getting the team to the one-yard line.

Again, this was against the Commanders, but any signs of life for the ground game are welcome. And the Cowboys might have uncovered a new weapon in the passing game as well in Rico Dowdle, who caught three balls for 54 yards, including the longest play of the game, a 32-yard reception that was almost all after the catch.

The running backs showed up this game, and hopefully they will continue this.

Mike McCarthy had no missteps

You don’t score five touchdowns without punting the ball a single time without some good work by the guy holding the playsheet on the sidelines. McCarthy was clearly on point in this one. He didn’t get too fancy, relying on how his stars were taking care of business to rack up points and yardage. He seemed to have adjusted very nicely for the blustery conditions by sticking to the short passing game and leaning on the running backs. There seems nothing here to fault him for. He even called a quick, brutally efficient 65-yard touchdown drive after the two-minute warning in the first half. And clearly he had this team ready to play. There are no criticisms to level at him this week.

Defense asserted itself

The Commanders led 10-7 early in the second quarter, but from then on, they were shut down by Dan Quinn’s unit. They would sack Sam Howell four times, get two interceptions from Donovan Wilson and DaRon Bland, and Jourdan Lewis would continue his excellent season by forcing and recovering a fumble. Given that both of the Washington scores came on short fields following a blocked field goal and the interception of Prescott, this was a great showing, even if against an out-manned opponent. They say defense wins championships. More performances like this would certainly help.

The end of the streak

Sadly, the perfection ended for kicker Brandon Aubrey. Not only was his first attempt blocked, which was not really on him, he clanked one off the upright on his second try. But with Rush in to protect Prescott late, the team drove to get in Aubrey’s impressive range, and he nailed a 50-yarder to calm any flashbacks to what happened to Brett Maher last January.

If a playoff game comes down to a last-second field goal attempt, there is still no kicker that is better to have lining up for the try than Aubrey.

Penalties

After ranting about the often unforced errors that kept gifting yards to the opponent and wiping good plays off the books, this is a thing of some beauty.

Two penalties for 20 yards.

It was not a game that saw a lot of laundry on the field, as the Commanders only got caught four times for 39 yards, but this is still almost impressive. And in a weird twist of fate, those two flags were both offensive holding calls, and came just two plays apart on the same drive. They didn’t matter, as Prescott would find Cooks for his touchdown to cap that short drive off following the punt blocked by Hendershot.

Outside of the two big mistakes that led to Washington’s points, there was just very little negative to point to in this game for Dallas. It certainly looked like a very good team getting some things cleaned up for the better teams they will now face in the playoffs. The biggest negative was the exit of Stephon Gilmore with a shoulder injury, but he told McCarthy that the apparent dislocation felt a lot better after getting put back in place, and he plans to be on the field in for Sunday’s matchup.

The thing the Cowboys needed most was to get the arrow pointing up in the season finale. That they did.

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Dallas, TX

Dallas Cowboys legend Zach Martin retires

Published

10 hours ago

March 6, 2025

Press Room

Dallas Cowboys legend Zach Martin retires

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FRISCO, Texas – Nine-time Pro Bowler Zach Martin has officially retired.

The Dallas Cowboys guard reflected on his football career on Wednesday and thanked everyone who helped him along the way.

Martin is retiring as one of the most decorated players in franchise history.

Eleven years ago, Cowboys Vice President Stephen Jones convinced his father, Jerry, to draft Martin over quarterback Johnny Manziel. It was the right choice.

The offensive lineman from Notre Dame went on to become a Cowboys legend.

Only Cowboys Hall of Famers Bob Lilly and Randy White were also named first-team All-Pro players seven times.

Martin said his only regret is that he never got to hoist the Lombardi Trophy with his teammates.

“But I am incredibly proud of the road we traveled and everything we accomplished along the way. I hope I left as much of an impression on this organization as it did on me. There’s a deep sense of pride in knowing I gave everything to one team, one city, one team, one organization my entire career,” he said.

Former teammate Tony Romo, who attended Martin’s retirement celebration at The Star, said even as a rookie, Martin was one of the best linemen he’s ever played with.

Martin will be eligible for Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration in 2029.

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Dallas, TX

Bucks smoke depleted Mavs, 137-107, as Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo dominate

Published

21 hours ago

March 6, 2025

Press Room

Bucks smoke depleted Mavs, 137-107, as Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo dominate

The Dallas Mavericks hit the road to play the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, a rematch after these teams just played in Dallas on Saturday. The Bucks won that matchup, and Dallas already looks vastly different than they did in that game. Kyrie Irving tore his ACL and Jaden Hardy sprained his ankle on Monday night, adding to a lengthy injury report.

It might be easier to list who actually was available for the Mavericks, but here’s who they were missing: Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, Dante Exum, Jaden Hardy, Caleb Martin, and Kai Jones.

With that many players out, Dallas started Spencer Dinwiddie, Max Christie, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, and Dwight Powell, the 33rd different starting lineup of the season. Milwaukee started Damian Lillard, Taurean Prince, Kyle Kuzma, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez.

READ MORE: Mavericks coach Jason Kidd blasts media’s ‘wrong’ reporting of Kyrie Irving’s season-ending injury

It was an admirable start for the depleted Mavericks. Despite Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard combining for Milwaukee’s first 20 points, Dallas was hanging around thanks to 9 early points from Klay Thompson. But after the game was tied at 16, Milwaukee went on an 18-3 run to take a stranglehold of the game.

Dallas scored six straight points to get the lead back to 10, but they couldn’t get any stops. Kyle Kuzma scored the last seven points of the half for Milwaukee, and they’d take a 43-30 lead into the second quarter.

Max Christie and Brandon Williams helped bring Milwaukee’s advantage down to six again, but then the Bucks reinserted Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard and took off again. Those two continued to terrorize the Mavericks, shooting the ball very efficiently and spreading the ball around to open shooters, allowing the Bucks to shoot 63% from the floor in the first half.

Giannis had 26 points and Damian Lillard had 20, allowing the Bucks to take a 72-53 lead into halftime. Dallas’ offense was playing fine, but they had no rim protection against a team you desperately need it.

READ MORE: Kevin Durant delivers emotional response about Kyrie Irving’s season-ending injury

The third quarter was more of the same, as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard continued to torch the Mavs. Giannis crossed the 20,000 career points mark in the third quarter, but he and Lillard crossed 30 points for the game before the end of the third quarter as the Bucks crossed the century mark with three minutes to go in the frame.

Dallas was still scoring somewhat, as Naji Marshall scored nine points in a row before the end of the quarter, but Milwaukee still had a 106-79 lead heading into the fourth.

There wouldn’t be any unnecessary drama in the fourth quarter, as the Bucks emptied the bench, and went on to win 137-107.

Klay Thompson led the Mavericks with 28 points, but he attempted a season-high 27 shots to get there. Naji Marshall (22 points, 10 rebounds, a few of those points came well into garbage time), Brandon Williams (14 points), and Max Christie (13 points) were also in double figures.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard were incredible for the Bucks, with Giannis putting up 32 points and 15 rebounds on 13/20 shooting, and Lillard had 34 points on 11/15 shooting, including 5/8 from three. Kevin Porter Jr. had a triple-double off the bench, which made me have to triple-check the stat sheet, finishing with 10 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds. AJ Green (18 points, 6/9 three-point shooting), Kyle Kuzma (17 points), and Jericho Sims (10 points) were also in double figures.

Dallas returns home to play the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

READ MORE: Former Maverick Luka Doncic assists Lakers’ LeBron James for historic milestone

Stick with MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the 2024-25 Season

Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey on Twitter

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Dallas, TX

FIFA names Dallas host for International Broadcast Center

Published

1 day ago

March 5, 2025

Press Room

FIFA names Dallas host for International Broadcast Center

FIFA says the Dallas Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center will host the International Broadcast Center for all FIFA World Cup 2026 matches.

The announcement was confirmed Wednesday at Dallas City Hall and marks the second time the city has hosted the IBC. Dallas last hosted the IBC in Fair Park during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

I’m honored to be with you all today. On behalf of FIFA and FIFA World Cup 26, it’s an absolute pleasure to confirm that Dallas and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center will serve as the International Broadcast Center for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Amy Hopfinger, chief business and strategy officer with FIFA World Cup 26
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The IBC is a global broadcast operations center for all 104 matches of the tournament in 16 North American cities, including Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

From January 2026 to August 2026, the IBC will be the nerve center for TV, radio, and new media operations and will house about 2,000 broadcast media representatives.

“Hosting the IBC is a tremendous honor. I still today hear about 1994, hosting that IBC at Fair Park, and the experiences that volunteers had and the people from all over the world that they had a chance to meet,” said Monica Paul, president, North Texas FIFA World Cup 26 Organizing Committee. “I really hope we take this opportunity in 2026 and really show these broadcasters and media why we love Dallas, why we call this place home so they can share that across the world with people in their countries.”

The facility will span 485,000 square feet and ensure seamless coverage of the tournament, reaching billions of fans worldwide. It will serve as the headquarters for FIFA’s host broadcaster, media partners, FIFA content production, and football technology.

“Hosting thousands of professionals for seven months is no small task,” Hopfinger said. “The IBC will offer a range of services for individuals helping to take this groundbreaking tournament, the 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup, to over 200 countries worldwide.

In addition to hosting broadcast operations, the IBC will provide wraparound services to help those covering the games, including a 24-hour cafe, express shipping services, banking, and dry cleaning.

Paul and Hopfinger were joined Wednesday by Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson, Zarin Gracey, council member/chair ad hoc committee on professional sports recruitment and retention, City of Dallas, Jesse Moreno, Dallas City Council Member District 2 and Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert.

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